The perfect litter box

[zoebartlett]

Ughh! We''re constantly finding ourselves cleaning the bathroom, where we keep our kitty litter box. Do you have any ideas on what the perfect litter box could be? The ones with a top? The self-cleaning kind? Do those work well? They seems kind of pricey. This is such a silly annoyance but I thought I''d ask if anyone has had any luck.

Thanks!

 

[ladykemma]

we got a really deep one (with a rim) . then she stopped spreading it all over.

 

[oshinbreez]

I''ve used all kinds with Comet. I wouldn''t recommended the auto clean ones. I had one and Comet got his tail caught in it. I had an awful time trying to free him. The one''s with the lid work good. The one he has now just has a "ring" that goes around it.

 

[Miranda]

Date: 5/15/2007 6:46:15 PM
Author: oshinbreez
I''ve used all kinds with Comet. I wouldn''t recommended the auto clean ones. I had one and Comet got his tail caught in it. I had an awful time trying to free him. The one''s with the lid work good. The one he has now just has a ''ring'' that goes around it.

OMG!!!! I''m so glad I read this. I was just thinking of getting one so we could go away overnight. My cat makes a gross mess if the box goes more that 24 hrs. btw. cleanings. I thought this would be a fab solution! I guess not...

I suggest a very deep one with a lid and an opening in the front.

 

[anchor31]

I have a very deep one with a lid. I have two cats, and it works great. I clean it every 24h.

 

[FireGoddess]

We have a very deep one, with a lid. We also use the silica litter pearls to keep tracking down. While they''re getting used to the box we keep the lid off. Once they''ve started using it, we put the lid on.

 

[VegasAngel]

I have something like this http://www.petco.com/Shop/petco_Product_R_6290_PC_productlist_Nav_206_N_23+107+30+5659_sku_744611_familyID_8341.aspx

I put the bottom tray in a 30 gallon trash bag, put the litter in & snap on the top. That way when I change the litter I just lift the bag right off & the tray itself stays clean. I also put the litter box in a card board box to keep some of the litter from getting everywhere. Cats are messy.

 

[Lynn B]

Not a silly question at all! We have wrestled with the same issues!

Well, we finally have a system that works well for us. Buster is a litter-thrower, so we got him the deep kind with the domed lid, although I took off the silly little swinging door, AND removed the "filters" in the top. I prefer to let the litter box get a little "air" through those holes - I think that''s better for Buster.

His litter box is in the basement, so I have plenty of room... so I got a big shallow box lid from Home Depot (the kind a large vanity base came in!) and we put the litter box in that. So all the litter (he still throws it out and tracks it out when he jumps out of the box) stays contained in that box (lid). It''s VERY convenient... I just keep a small dustpan and whisk broom in the box and when I clean the litter box (once or even twice a day), I sweep up the stray litter from inside the big box. It really does keep the litter from being tracked all over the floor, and it works well for us.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 5/15/2007 7:07:58 PM
Author: FireGoddess
We have a very deep one, with a lid. We also use the silica litter pearls to keep tracking down. While they''re getting used to the box we keep the lid off. Once they''ve started using it, we put the lid on.

How well do the silica litter pearls work? We tend to buy Arm and Hammer but we''ve also used the pine or cedar chip kind (I forget the name). We have two cats and they track litter everywhere. They do scratch the inside of the box before jumping out, which I thought would help them track less litter. Nope.

 

[oshinbreez]

Date: 5/15/2007 6:58:08 PM
Author: Miranda

Date: 5/15/2007 6:46:15 PM

Author: oshinbreez

I''ve used all kinds with Comet. I wouldn''t recommended the auto clean ones. I had one and Comet got his tail caught in it. I had an awful time trying to free him. The one''s with the lid work good. The one he has now just has a ''ring'' that goes around it.

OMG!!!! I''m so glad I read this. I was just thinking of getting one so we could go away overnight. My cat makes a gross mess if the box goes more that 24 hrs. btw. cleanings. I thought this would be a fab solution! I guess not...


I suggest a very deep one with a lid and an opening in the front.

It was a good thing I happened to be home when it happened. I unplugged the litterbox and it probably took 10 mins or so to get his tail out. I couldn''t break the thing. The box has motion detectors, but he jumped back in while it was cleaning and as the rake was returning to it''s normal position, his tail was against the side track and got caught. I''d hate to think of what it would have been like had I been gone at the time.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 5/15/2007 7:14:23 PM
Author: zoebartlett

Date: 5/15/2007 7:07:58 PM
Author: FireGoddess
We have a very deep one, with a lid. We also use the silica litter pearls to keep tracking down. While they''re getting used to the box we keep the lid off. Once they''ve started using it, we put the lid on.

How well do the silica litter pearls work? We tend to buy Arm and Hammer but we''ve also used the pine or cedar chip kind (I forget the name). We have two cats and they track litter everywhere. They do scratch the inside of the box before jumping out, which I thought would help them track less litter. Nope.

They are awesome. *this is sorta gross, be forewarned*

They dry out the poops so they''re less smelly and get hardened and are easy to scoop. They also seep up the urine and do a great job at odor retention. Supposedly they last longer than the Arm and Hammer type stuff (I used to use that but hate how the little granules track everywhere).

With the silica, you just scoop poops out and stir the litter with the scooper so the pearls are mixed (kitties usually like to go pee in one corner). After a few weeks you dump the whole thing. I use liner bags as well so you grab the bag and toss it.

I also have a small ''kitty carpet'' in front of the litter box which keeps tracking to a minimum.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Oh, I LOVE our self cleaning one. It has a weight sensor so it racks 10 mins *after* the kitty leaves. We have enver had problems.

 

[sumbride]

We have 2 cats and 3 floors, so we have 2 litter boxes. The one in the upstairs bathroom has a lid and the one in the basement is just open, but on a huge plastic mat. Dust busters are our friends!

Here's what I have in my bathroom, in lavender!

I used to use the silica crystals but found that Lucy didn't like them very much, and Bill HATED them, so we switched to a very lovely litter called "Cat Attract" that practically demands cats use it. It's supposed to smell like an herb garden or something. They seem to really like it.

 

[justjulia]

We have a deep one with a snap on lid. I put it on a little nonslip rug, to grab the litter that comes off feet when they exit. It is actually in the hall outside the bathroom. When it was in the bathroom, it was awful--the humidity made the litter that fell out cling to the floor. We like the Tidy Cat small spaces litter the best, so far.

 

[eks6426]

I have the automatic Littermate. It works like a charm. I use scoobable litter. After a cat goes, the machine waits about 10 minutes then a rake goes through the litter grabbing all the clumps and deposits them in a plastic container. My cats love it..the litter box is ALWAYS clean. They are actually fascinated about the whole raking process. The container has a lid so you can push the lid on and never touch the clumps. But I'm too cheap to throw out a container every few days (they are about $1 each) so I just dump the container and put it back in. This cat box is especially helpful when I'm gone for a few days.

The one thing I don't like about it is there is no lid and my cats do fling a bit of litter out of it. I've read that there are attachments that make a roof. Right now, I just assigned my 10 year old to sweep up the extra litter every day.
I've read there is a catbox that you can hook up to your plumbing system and it actually rinses everything down the drain after the cat goes. Sounds interesting but I've never seen one in real life. http://www.catgenie.com/

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

My cats absoultely refuse to use the automatic litterbox. I thought it would be such a great thing but poor Murphy was so freaked out by it he peed right there on the floor the first time he saw it move and hear the noise. I now use a HUGH (econ size) box with a cover and the door/filters removed. I just use freshstep but I think I''m going to try the silica crystals next time, they sound neat. Oh yea, and I do the 30gallon TB trick as well...SO easy for cleanup!

 

[firebirdgold]

I''ve had real problems with the kitty litter now that we''ve got three cats, one with ''issues''.

I was using a booda dome for my cat and it worked well. It''s a dome with a cover and stairs that take off most of the kitty litter from their feet and prevent them from scattering the litter by kicking it. It does have a liner designed for it but I never use them. My boy cat just rips through any liner or bag in such a way that''s it''s far messier to use one.
I was also using those crystals and the combination worked perfectly. I never had a mess to clean up, I couldn''t smell anything, and I didn''t have to clean it out except every few days.

Then my husband moved in with his monsters disguised as girl kitties. The crystals just couldn''t handle the addition of two more cats even with a second litter box. One of the kitties would pee on the cover''s wall and it would leak out. If I took off the cover she''d just hang her butt out of the box and pee, plus litter would get scattered. We were using the multi-cat strength clumping litter, either arm n'' hammer or the sort with crystals. It still smelled pretty bad when you cleaned the litter but it wasn''t too bad in other rooms as long as I cleaned it everyday.

Then I switched to something new. I found a new litter box at Target which is designed to stop leakage. It''s really tall and deep, and also has a very high back. The cover has a large see through plastic bit that flips up on hinges to make it easy to clean. Unlike other boxes with covers, the hole is high enough up that monster girl doesn''t just go part-way in and pee. I''ve had no pee on the floor to clean up. (I wonder if he''ll divorce me if I ''lose'' one of his cats?)
We also switched litters. It''s this clumpable pine litter that looks like sawdust. (they previously made one in little hard cylinders that was useless) It totally doesn''t smell! The whole house smells so much better, and it''s sooooo much more pleasant to clean the litter so I do it every day instead of every other day.

Sorry for the long post, but it''s a topic near and not at all dear to my heart!

 

[Lorelei]

I am sitting here curling up laughing knowing now I am not the only one with cats who have "litter box issues!"

 

[FireGoddess]

Ah IJ, your post totally cracked me up. Your husband''s cats...the one that would hang her butt out of the box...LOL!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/16/2007 12:02:22 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Ah IJ, your post totally cracked me up. Your husband's cats...the one that would hang her butt out of the box...LOL!

I need a litter box myself after reading IJ's hilarious post! Hahaha!!!

Speaking of hanging butts over the box, we had a Siamese who hated litter and he would balance on the edge of the box with his butt hanging over it ( not always the right way round) and poop. He would then carefully step down from the rim of the box, look at what he had done, then freak and run away everytime! He would not even touch the litter!

 

[Rachie]

I just bought the new scoop free automatic litter box with the crystal litter. My cat didn''t use it at first b/c the litter was different, but as soon as I added some of her old litter, she was fine. I have had littermaid automatic litter boxes but they both broke. My cat always peed right in front of the rake so it couldn''t move the clumps and so I always had to move them so it could rake the box. The new litter soaks up the urine instead of clumping it, so it doesn''t smell and I don''t have to deal with clumps. I hope this one works out!

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 5/16/2007 12:04:38 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 5/16/2007 12:02:22 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Ah IJ, your post totally cracked me up. Your husband's cats...the one that would hang her butt out of the box...LOL!

I need a litter box myself after reading IJ's hilarious post! Hahaha!!!

Speaking of hanging butts over the box, we had a Siamese who hated litter and he would balance on the edge of the box with his butt hanging over it ( not always the right way round) and poop. He would then carefully step down from the rim of the box, look at what he had done, then freak and run away everytime! He would not even touch the litter!

You guys are killing me.

I should be glad my cats' neuroses never involved litter!! (How did you fix that problem, BTW?!)

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/16/2007 12:10:34 PM
Author: FireGoddess

Date: 5/16/2007 12:04:38 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 5/16/2007 12:02:22 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Ah IJ, your post totally cracked me up. Your husband's cats...the one that would hang her butt out of the box...LOL!

I need a litter box myself after reading IJ's hilarious post! Hahaha!!!

Speaking of hanging butts over the box, we had a Siamese who hated litter and he would balance on the edge of the box with his butt hanging over it ( not always the right way round) and poop. He would then carefully step down from the rim of the box, look at what he had done, then freak and run away everytime! He would not even touch the litter!

You guys are killing me.

I should be glad my cats' neuroses never involved litter!!

Hehehe...it could be worse FG! Of course with our Siamese we used to dread him hot footing it away from the litter box as we knew next would come the stench....

He also used to pee inside my poor Father's slippers if he was visiting!

ETA - there wasn't anything we could do about it, I just had to sigh, put a peg on my nose, grab a bag and scoop and clean it up for him! The cat was long gone!

 

[ellaila]

Oh, kitties!!

Monkey just uses a regular box with normal scoopable litter. I recently tried "Yesterday's News" litter (made from recylced paper) but -- call us dumb -- we couldn't figure out how to clean it! I'm so used to scooping daily that this stuff just didn't work for us because there were pellets (almost like rabbit food) that would just go right in the scooper too -- so you couldn't get *just* the pee and poop. Does that make sense? I have heard great things about Feline Pine though, and I'm pretty sure they have a scoopable version of that, so we may give it a shot.

He is funny though because when he pees, he's fine -- does his business and then leaves quietly. But when he does a #2, he flies out of the box and runs around the apartment yelling like a madman! We think he's quite proud of himself.

As for automatic ones, I knew someone that had one years ago and it was horrible. It would always jam up. But maybe they're better now!

ETA: I just reread the title of this post -- the PERFECT litter box -- and yeah, our regular box is by no means perfect! He tracks litter everywhere, but I just suck it up as being a cat owner. But yes, it would be great to not find litter in our bathmat.

 

[Alienor]

The perfect litter depends on your cat.
Before you buy an expensive self-cleaning litter (if you decide to go that route), check craigslist. So you won''t be out of so much money if your cat decides he/she doesn''t want to use it.
Personally, i use a regular litter box. But I also use this. Everyday, you just scoop drop it and turn the wheel knob. It is easy and the litter doesn''t smell except the cat decides she wants a new litter (does this by throwing poop against the wall, cats have their way to express themselves).
Buy it at Walmart, it is cheaper than at Petco.

 

[chrono]

I'm cheap. I just dump her mess into a grocery shopping bag (checked for holes first) and throw it directly into my large trash in the garage. I also use the tall covered litter box with the flap and "air-vent". To minimize litter tracking, I've a mat just outside the litter door flap and I also sweep my laundry room regularly.

 

[FireGoddess]

Alienor, do you like this litter locker thing? Is it easy to use? Hmmmm. Tell me more. How often do you empty the locker?

 

[chrono]

This contraption reminds me of my baby's diaper pail, the diaper genie and would only end up being another gadget for me to clean up once a week on trash days, plus $ for the liner cartridge. Still, I think it'll be great for odor control.

 

[Alienor]

Date: 5/16/2007 1:28:07 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Alienor, do you like this litter locker thing? Is it easy to use? Hmmmm. Tell me more. How often do you empty the locker?

I adore it. Her litter never smells. I just spend 2-3 minutes everyday scooping out. You dump it into the litterlocker and turn the knob. I only have it for about a month. I am still on the same refill. I just had to cut some of the bag thingy and retie a knot. The bag was too full and it became hard to turn the knob. The bag was too full because i found a dead animal in my cat litter and decided to dump it in the litter locker instead of the garbage.
It is very easy to use, i promise. You can check the website if you want. They have interactive demos.
The cat loves to watch every day when i used it and wonders where his excrements go.

I believe the litterlocker is $19.99. And the refill is $6.49. The refill is supposed to last you two months for a single cat litter. Right now, it has been a month and still on the same refill.

 

[ellaila]

Date: 5/16/2007 1:40:43 PM
Author: Alienor

Date: 5/16/2007 1:28:07 PM
Author: FireGoddess
Alienor, do you like this litter locker thing? Is it easy to use? Hmmmm. Tell me more. How often do you empty the locker?

I adore it. Her litter never smells. I just spend 2-3 minutes everyday scooping out. You dump it into the litterlocker and turn the knob. I only have it for about a month. I am still on the same refill. I just had to cut some of the bag thingy and retie a knot. The bag was too full and it became hard to turn the knob. The bag was too full because i found a dead animal in my cat litter and decided to dump it in the litter locker instead of the garbage.
It is very easy to use, i promise. You can check the website if you want. They have interactive demos.
The cat loves to watch every day when i used it and wonders where his excrements go.

I believe the litterlocker is $19.99. And the refill is $6.49. The refill is supposed to last you two months for a single cat litter. Right now, it has been a month and still on the same refill.

The litter locker thing looks pretty cool, I have to admit. We just use Target brand resealable sandwich bags for our scoops, and I feel pretty wasteful throwing all that plastic away, so this seems like, if nothing else, it''s better for the environment!